Kathopanishad – 4

Valli 2, Part - 2

Brahman is the supreme goal as per all Vedas and this can be realized through  Omkara upasana  and Omkara vichara declares Yama in Mantras 15,16 and 17. Omkara is a symbol for Brahman.  Brahman with Maya, called Saguna Brahman or Iswara, can be meditated upon on the symbol Om which is called Omkara upasana.  This upasana can be done for material benefits i.e. as sakama or for spiritual advancement only i.e. nishkama.  Through nishkama Omkara upasana, one attains Brahma loka after death and  krama mukthi from there.  Brahman without attributes, called Nirguna Brahman, can be enquired into through the Omkara vichara.  Through vichara one gets Brahma jnanam and Brahma jnanam confers jeevan mukthi, while living and videha mukthi after death. After this brief discourse on Omkara, Yama through Mantras 18,19,20,21 and 22 gives the identity of Brahman with Athma and also the Athma lakshanam, which incidentally answers the question as reworded by Nachiketas in Mantra 14.  Mantras 18 & 19 answers specifically the points raised in the reworded question of Nachiketas.

Na jaayate mriyate va vipaschit naayam kutashchit na babhoova kashchit I 

ajo nityah shaashvatah ayam puraanah na hanyate hanyamaane sareere II

This Omniscient one (Athma) is neither born nor does It die. It does not originate from anything, nor does anything originate from It.  It is birthless, deathless, undecaying, and it is ancient. It is not killed even when the body is killed. (1-2-18)

Hantaa chet manyate hantum hatah chet manyate hatam I

ubhau tau na vijaaneetah na ayam hanta na hanyate II

If a killer thinks (that the Athma) kills and if the one who is being killed thinks (that the Athma is) killed, both of them do not know. The Athma does not kill (and) is not killed. (1-2-19)

In Mantra 18 Vipaschit means Chaitanya swarupa Athma.  naayam kutashchit na babhoova kashchit  means it is not cause for anything, nor is it the effect of anything else.  Na jaayate mriyate va means it is neither born nor dies, And it is ajo nityah shaashvatah ayam puraanah i e. it is unborn, eternal, permanent, and ancient.  So it is not destroyed even when body suffers death which is given by na hanyate hanyamaane sareere. The next Mantra continues this idea and tells that Athma is also not a kartha, doer of any action,  or  bhoktha, experiencor of the effects of any action, taking an extreme example of killing.  As Athma is beyond action and fruits of action it is beyond dharma and adharma.  So in this two Mantras the question of Nachiketas stands answered that it is the Chaithanya Swarupa Athma that is beyond dharma and adharma, cause and effect, past and present, that survives the body even after death. Incidentally we can find the same ideas expressed in same or similar words by Lord Krishna in Gita (2- 20 & 19)

As Athma pervades all and it is not an object, the words big and small cannot apply to it as we can see from Mantra 20.

Anoh aneeyaan mahato maheeyaan aatmaa asya jantoh nihitah guhaayaam I

Tam akratuh pashyati veeta shokah dhaatuh prasaadaat mahimaanam aatmanah II

Athma is smaller than the smallest (and) bigger than the biggest. It is located in the heart of (every) being. The desireless one sees that glory of the Athma through the serenity of the organs (and becomes) free from grief. (1-2-20).

All objects, big and small, inhere in it and also rest on it. This can be realized in the subtle space in the anthakarana called thaharakasa by people who have no binding desires and thereby have a tranquil, agitation-free mind, and this realization makes them free of sorrow.  Because of its association with mind it appears to travel far, while really being all-pervasive it does not travel as there is no place where it can go (Mantra 21).  This can be understood by comparing pot-space with absolute space.  Pot-space appears to travel with the pot while the absolute space does not travel. Athma is indeed to be recognized as the one eternal sentient factor in all the perishable bodies (Mantra 22)

Mantras 23 and 24 give the essential requisites for realization of Athma, Athma Saskshatkaram.

Na ayam aatmaa pra-vachanena labhyah na medhayaa na bahunaa shrutena I

yam eva eshah vrinute tena labhyah tasya eshah aatmaa vivrinute tanoom svaam II

This Athma cannot be known neither through much study nor through the intellect, nor through much hearing. He alone whom this (Athma) chooses attains it. This Athma reveals its nature to him. (1-2-23)

Na aviratah dush-charitaat na ashaantah, na asamaahitah I

Na ashaanta maanasah vaa api prajnaanena enam aapnuyaat II

One who has not desisted from bad conduct, whose senses are not under control, whose mind is not concentrated, whose mind is not free from anxiety, cannot attain this Athma through knowledge. (1-2-24) 

One should have intense desire for Moksha, sense control, focused tranquil mind free of raga and dwesha and a strong moral character that ever adheres to dharma.  Mantra 23 is almost identical to Mantra (3-2-3) of Mundaka Upanishad as this also states: “Athma cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, or through intelligence, or through much learning. He who chooses Athma -by him alone is Athma attained. It is Athma that reveals to the seeker Its true nature”.  Valli 2 concludes with Mantra 25 which conveys in a humorous way that Athma is sristi-sthiti-laya-karanam focusing on Athma, as the laya-karanam which swallows the whole creation at the time of pralayam.

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